A Rave Sibling Rant- Sexual Harassment

Are Women At Raves asking to be Sexually Harrassed?

Recently, a video went viral of a girl at a festival who was wearing typical “ravewear” and a random guy ran up behind her, reached around and grabbed her breast. The girl then followed the guy to where he was sitting and she and her friend began to repeatedly hit the guy. We thought, “Hell yeah! You go girl”, but turns out that the internet was torn. Some people were even saying she asked for it!

This just blows our minds, raving has been around for decades and was originally a place where people could go to have a good time, to dress and wear whatever they wanted without feeling judged or threatened. However, as the scene has become more and more mainstream that has clearly changed!

Rave Bro:

As an older brother who raves with my little sister, I definitely catch myself watching her making sure she is okay. My sister has been a part of this scene since she was 17, and I remember when we would go out at first, it took an entire army of my friends to keep an eye on her.

The fact of the matter is that my sister is expressive, and her style changes regularly. She works hard for her body, and if she wants to show it off she should be able to without fear of a man taking advantage of her.

I remember a couple years ago, we were at StereoLive Houston, and out on the terrace. My sister was shuffling with a group of friends and when I looked over my shoulder I saw a guy low key filming my sister’s ass on his phone, and laughing about it to his homie. So my friend and I walked over to him and demanded that he delete it, and explained to him how perverted that made him seem. What happened to men approaching attractive women, versus being creeps?

Another time, a friend of mine was followed by a guy at a venue all night, and at the end of the night she told me, “I think this guy has been following me all night!”. As my friends came outside we packed up the car and left. This guy literally followed us in a car all the way to my apartment. Luckily, the girl he had been following all night noticed, and when we got to the complex myself and the rest of the guys went to approach him and he sped off. Knowing he had a good ol’ Texas ass whooping coming his way!

I just want our community to feel safe again, and free to express themselves however they want. That is why we started to rave, to begin with, let’s not excuse this behavior, and if we see something like this happening, let’s all stand together to fight it! Look out for your brother and sisters, figuratively and literally!

Rave Sis:

Sexual harassment is so easy to spot at festivals or shows and that’s extremely disappointing. When I hear a story like this one it’s so easy to think that it’s always the guys but that’s not always the case. I’ve seen quite a few instances where a girl will walk up, grab someone by the face and proceed to kiss that person without any verbal consent. I think some of these girls at festivals think that because they have the same parts as another female they can touch and grab them and it’s acceptable or cute.

As a girl in this community that has had a few experiences with this topic, I absolutely think a woman should be able to wear whatever the heck they want too without being told: “They are asking for it.” It is so crazy to me that someone could think an appearance determines whether you want to be sexually harassed or not. The only way someone can be asking for it is if they are ACTUALLY asking for it.

It’s crazy important not only for our own enjoyment at festivals but for the safety as well to stand up for ourselves and others if we see this happening. I want festivals to always be a place where we can feel liberated and where people feel free to express who they are while enjoying the music they love. The rave scene has so much to give to the hearts of all of us. Peace, love, unity, and RESPECT – just have some respect.

thecitybachelor

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Photo by Drew Coates

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Come on, guys! Let’s not allow this to happen let us all stand up for one other and protect our culture that has so much history! We know there is still a large portion of the community who promote PLUR and freedom of expression, but let’s not allow for these people who are just here to get messed up, and care nothing about our community take away what generations of people have created and evolved. Let’s keep raving a safe escape for the world.